AquaGator Project Advances Freshwater Conservation Research

Summer 2025 brought significant progress to AquaGator, a freshwater conservation research project led by Professor Janyl Jumadinova and developed with student Benedek Kaibas and recent alumna Pallas-Athena Cain.

Where the Project Stands

Two fully functioning underwater robots are now actively collecting environmental metrics from local lakes, tracking data relevant to water quality and aquatic ecosystem health.

This summer’s work focused on integrating AI for aquatic plant detection and environmental monitoring — building toward a system that can autonomously identify and track changes in lake ecosystems over time.

What’s Next

The team is planning expansion to local state parks and lake testing programs, broadening both the geographic reach and the real-world impact of the project. The goal is to create a tool that conservation organizations and researchers can deploy without needing specialized robotics expertise.

AquaGator is one of several summer research projects supported by the department. Students interested in research opportunities should speak with faculty during advising or reach out directly to cis@allegheny.edu.